The insulated jacket designed for use with hot and cold fluid piping systems is thoroughly discussed in the previously cross-referenced patents.
The insulated jacket as used with the air duct system is designed to carry and insulate the air for heating, ventilating and air conditioning (HVAC) systems. Many of the present HVAC systems are formed from metal ducts, which are insulated by adding fiberglass insulation after the ducting system has been installed.
Since thermoplastics are the preferred materials of construction, a number of forming methods were described in our previous applications including injection molding and extrusion. However, the expense involved in fabricating the large numbers of molds and dies required to produce insulating jackets to cover all the pipe and fitting sizes from xc2xc inch to 42 inches would be prohibitive.
It is an object of the invention to provide an insulating jacket of thermoplastic having the insulating features described in our previous patents but incorporating a latching design which permits various size insulating jackets to be formed by latching together a number of segments fabricated using only one die or mold.
To this end, an insulating jacket assembly for a pipe section has been provided which includes a number of identical flexible thermoplastic segments that snap together end to end through the use of snap and lock/latch mechanisms located along their longitudinal lengths.
To extend the jackets capability to fit all pipe sizes, a single adjustable/modified segment is provided which may be adjusted in size to connect with the other identical segments thereby permitting the insulating jacket assembly to enclose more sizes of pipe. Split gaskets and tape are used to form a seal between the junctions of each assembly.
Alternatively, an insulating jacket assembly for a fitting in a piping system, has been provided which includes a number of identical flexible thermoplastic segments and a single adjustable segment, as described above, to enclose the fitting of a piping system, such as a Tee. The jacket assembly for the fitting is formed by cutting a jacket assembly for a straight pipe and re assembling the cut sections to form a jacket assembly for the fitting. The jacket sections are joined to each other by welding or gluing. These segments snap together through the use of snap and lock mechanisms, again as described above. Split gaskets and tape are used to form a seal between each end of the fitting jacket assembly and the adjacent pipe section insulating jacket assemblies described in this application.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a pre-insulated air duct for use in fabricating the ducting in heating, ventilating and air conditioning (HVAC) systems using the same technology that was applied to the piping system.
To that end, an insulating jacket assembly has been provided to form a pre-insulated circular or rectangular air duct which includes a number of identical flexible thermoplastic segments and may include single adjustable segment, as described above, to form the duct. In this application, the flexible and the adjustable thermoplastic segments not only provide the air gap insulation but also provide the carrier pipe that transports air in a heating, ventilating and air conditioning (HVAC) system. As in the piping system applications, the segments are snapped together through the use of snap and lock mechanisms. The flexible stand-offs of the insulating piping jacket are reduced in length (for circular ductwork) or eliminated (for square ductwork) to form the inner wall of the air duct. The pre-insulated duct has at least a singular air gap to provide the insulation. Split gaskets and tape are provided to form a seal between each end of the assemblies. The elbows and tees of the air duct system can be fabricated in the same manner described for the insulating piping jacket.